Founder of a NetZero Startup

Carbon13 is the venture builder for the climate emergency. Applications are open now to become a cofounder on our  programme. 

Carbon13 are  seeking commercial leaders from the startup and corporate worlds to become founders of high growth startups which will have the potential to reduce emissions by millions of tonnes. 

On the seven month programme, you will: 

• Form a cofounding team with commercial or technical cofounders, all capable of executing and commercialising game changing innovation 
• Understand the biggest challenges and opportunities for reducing emissions so that your venture can maximise its potential impact on the climate 
• Understand how to ready your venture for investment and pitch for a net £80,000 
• Be part of a cohort of 50+ talented entrepreneurs, all united by their mission of reducing emissions through a startup; and join an ecosystem of hundreds of experts in entrepreneurship, decarbonisation, and the emitting sectors. 

We ask you to dedicate yourself to the biggest challenge of our time: the climate emergency. You will create  a  game-changing , scalable, carbon-emissions-reducing venture with the potential to reduce CO2e emissions by a minimum of 10m tonnes per annum.  

You will become the CEO, responsible for building the critical relationships the venture needs, and for leading the building of the execution team.   

You now want to work with cofounders who can match your standards, challenge you, and credibly deliver on the high-potential big-impact ideas in Net Zero. 

The  next cohort will begin in Cambridge, UK  on 26 April 2022.  

What you'll achieve  

If selected for the venture builder, you will begin the programme April 2022. The venture builder is split into three phases and supports you to:  

• Find an experienced, purpose-driven technical cofounder from the cohort of 50+ founders  
• Get beyond the prototype and transition to a commercially successful venture which can also credibly, measurable and significantly reduce CO₂e emissions   
• Make the maximum impact on CO₂e emissions through channelling your commercial skills, career and experiences to focus on the biggest challenges in Net Zero    
• Understand which ideas are high-impact, high-potential and commercially viable, and avoid the incremental, slow or dead-end ideas  
• Start on your intensive journey of learning, around the challenges of Net Zero and sustainability and the best practices in entrepreneurship  
• Join an ecosystem of hundreds of experts in entrepreneurship, decarbonisation, and the emitting sectors. 

During Phase 1 (six weeks) you will receive a stipend of £1,000, and during Phase 2 (2 months) we pay a stipend of £2,000 per team member.  After this, ventures judged to have high potential will receive a pre-seed investment of a net £80,000. In Phase 3 we will support you to prepare a funding strategy for post-Carbon13 life and help you bring in the next round of finance.  

Who should apply?  

While no two founders on the  programme are the same, we expect commercial founders to match one of our broad technical “Founder Types”: Commercial and Venture Catalyst.  

Commercial: You will likely have built a startup (or more than one) previously, or are new to entrepreneurship but have an impressive track record in one of our CO₂e emitting sectors. You are likely to have eight or more years post-Bachelors experience. 

Venture Catalyst: There is no such thing as a typical founder. This Founder Type is for those of you who don’t fit in a neat box but who do have valuable insights and skills, whether earned in the startup world or elsewhere, which would help any startup team. Skills can include enterprise sales, design, product management, or others. 

Whichever Founder Type you are, you are highly motivated to work on the biggest problems of Net Zero, and see entrepreneurship as your chance to build something significant. 

The Cambridge Factor  

The Carbon13 venture builder is based in Cambridge and benefits from strong connections within the deeply creative and radical Cambridge entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem, and benefits from many academic and corporate partnerships.  

Learn More 

We are running a series of webinars available to everyone who would like to learn more about Carbon13 and the Net Zero economy. Our next one can be found here - https://carbonthirteen.com/webinars/ 

We caused climate change. Let's fix it.